Opinion > Letters to the Editor

Posted on Tue, Oct. 13, 2009

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Letters to the editor on Welshimer, Nobel Prize, caring for veterans, Wall Street power

Welshimer's vote was not 'petty'

I cannot possibly be the only Sedgwick County resident who was offended by The Eagle editorial board calling County Commissioner Gwen Welshimer's vote against increased jail funding "petty" (Oct. 9 Blog Excerpts).

Welshimer has stood her ground and fought for the taxpayers of Sedgwick County, including those in Wichita, for three years. She has kept her campaign promise to hold the line on taxes, reducing them if possible.

Just because every County Commission vote is not 5-0 doesn't mean that thought and research have not gone into every vote.

Welshimer is a woman with the courage of her convictions, standing up to the faction that puts downtown Wichita before all other concerns. The Eagle editorial board seems to belong to that faction. There are 18 other cities in Sedgwick County, plus one improvement district, all of which deserve help, too. Residents in the rural areas of the county are more concerned with the way the county serves them than how downtown is redeveloped.

DEE STUART

Park City

*

I appreciate Sedgwick County Commissioner Gwen Welshimer's efforts and work to find a solution regarding our growing jail population, especially when local and state funds are short. She is a person who studies and thinks outside the box to solve our problems. She is clearly not a "yes" person. Is The Eagle practicing politics with its recent "petty" coverage of Welshimer?

CONSUELO DEAN

Wichita

Teachable moment

This past week President Obama had a "teachable moment," as he likes to put it. After being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he correctly stated he didn't deserve the award. A "teachable moment" would have been to decline the award, as it was not based on actions taken. That is unless the actions of figuratively bending over and kissing the behind of dictators such as Cuba's Fidel Castro, North Korea's Kim Jung Il, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Or for apologizing for America's greatness. Or for going to lengths to minimize America's role as a superpower.

It is so sad that this "teachable moment" for our children is the awarding of weakness in our leadership. When Obama addresses other world leaders, he sure doesn't speak for me or others who truly love America and wish to see a strong America — even if that means standing alone against the tyrants and dictators of the world.

RON PAGE

Derby

Award deserved

I comes as no surprise that at a time when we should be proud and rejoicing that our president won the Nobel Peace Prize, there are those who would want to deny, question and take away this great honor.

In the short nine months that President Obama has been in office, he has done more for world peace, cooperation and harmony than the previous administration and its party of "no" had done in the past nine years. Yet they can question what he has done?

With all the jealousy, hate, bigotry and bias shown toward this administration, it is a wonder that Obama has accomplished what he has. If we can show courtesy and give this administration the patience and time that we gave the other party for the eight years it was in office, I believe the best is yet to come, and we can see this was truly deserved.

DEL LOPEZ

Wichita

Learned lesson

I read the article last week about the wonderful welcome-home surprise Ryan Kadolph and his friends gave Jason Prock on his return from Iraq ("After Iraq, a sweet ride," Oct. 8 Local & State). I cannot begin to tell you how much articles like that warm my heart and make me proud to be an American and a Kansan.

I am a Vietnam veteran, and when we came home, our welcome was far different than it is today. Don't get me wrong; I'm not another Vietnam vet who is still whining about what happened 40 years ago. That was a different time, and the political climate in America was quite different. It's just that, for lack of a better description, we seem to have learned a lesson about appreciating our returning combat veterans and what they've been through and are realizing what they deserve and how they should be treated.

KEN BAKER

Sedgwick

Wall Street power

There is power here in our country — great, overwhelming power. But it isn't government power. It is Wall Street's power. The huge banks are running this country, and Congress, Democrats and Republicans fall into step wherever the lobbyists lead them.

Who is paying Wall Street? The little guys, you and me and our neighbors and all the neighboring states. All of us little guys taking on huge national debt, and getting poorer as we go.

And what happens on Wall Street? Oh, we just rewarded it with a massive payment for being bad. It is using part of that payoff to swamp the media with "feel good" advertisements telling us how much it is doing for us, how trustworthy, how honest, how dedicated it is to us.

Will we do anything about it? Doubtful. We are sheep headed down the path of sacrifice, bleating and following. Baa, baa, baa.

BETH VANNATTA

Halstead